of his pocket and dialed as he stepped out onto the front porch.
Fletcher answered on the third ring. “That you, Ancheta?”
“It’s me. You still in Nevada?”
“Nah, chased that prey to ground a month back. I’m enjoying the sun in Florida this week. Purely recreational.”
“Where in Florida?” Neal Fletcher had nothing holding him, no reason not to pick up and head for west Tennessee. “Panhandle or down south?”
“Panhandle. Why, you got trouble up your way?”
“In a manner of speaking. A splintered pack of refugees out of Memphis just fell into my lap.”
Fletcher spit out a curse. “Have you called Colin yet? Last time I talked to him, he mentioned checking out Memphis after he finished up his current gig. If it’s bad enough to catch his attention, you’re going to need more than me for backup.”
“Alphabetical order in my contacts list, Fletch. First you, then Colin, and then Shane.” He stepped off the porch and rounded the edge of the house. “What had Colin heard about Memphis?”
“Nothing good. A few of those bastards are into pain and tears. Enchanted blades and leaving their victims scarred up. Shit like that.”
“Damn it.” Jay had seen some of Zack’s scars, but what others did he bear? And what about the rest of them? “It’ll mean a fight. Are you up for it?”
“Sure. It’ll take me a day or so to get on the road, but I owe you.”
“Thanks, man.” Jay ended the call with a deep breath and ticked one more thing off his mental list of things to do.
One down, way too many to go.
Eden opened the box marked GG’s china and smiled as she lifted out a plate with a pattern of whimsical blue flowers encircling the rim. “Grandma Green’s china. It would be nice to see it put to some use instead of gathering dust.”
Lorelei peered over her shoulder. “Are you sure you want us using your grandmother’s dishes? Wouldn’t you rather take them home?”
“I have plenty crowding the house from the other side of the family already.” Eden traced her finger over a flower. “I never knew Grandma Green, but Dad always said she was a practical sort of lady. No-nonsense. I bet she’d approve.”
“Then we’ll certainly put it to use.” Lorelei dragged a hair elastic off her wrist and twisted her hair up into a high, sloppy ponytail. “We’ll probably end up cooking in shifts just to feed everyone.”
Easy to believe. Jay had shoveled three meals’ worth of eggs and bacon onto Eden’s plate that morning, and she was hungry again. “So wanting to eat everything in sight isn’t a temporary condition?”
“Not hardly. It’s an enduring trait of your average werewolf.”
“Damn.” She put the plate back and lifted the box. Carefully. The first time she’d braced her weight to heft a box, she’d almost thrown it into her own face. “I guess I’ll have to get used to it. And everything else.”
Lorelei pulled open the folded flaps of another box. “I remember. It’s crazy at first, but you acclimate faster than you might expect.”
“Yeah?” Eden straightened and rubbed the back of her neck. “I don’t remember changing. I remember being in Jay’s car, and I think I remember trying to bite him. I woke up under his bed.”
The other woman regarded her thoughtfully. “What do you remember most? Like, what feeling? Fear?”
Everything after the attack had melted into a disjointed blur, but one thing stood out. She brushed her fingers over the base of her neck and remembered Jay’s teeth closing there, sending desire throbbing through her body.
Her cheeks heated. “No, not fear.”
Lorelei shrugged. “Then it sounds like it could have been worse. You’ll be all right.”
She must sound spoiled and ungrateful to a woman who’d endured the sort of things Lorelei had. Eden bit back a self-conscious apology and turned to the next box. “I know I will. What I’m worried about is helping the rest of you be all right.”
“You may as well pack it in right now, because the only thing that can do that is time.”
“Then that’s what we’ll work for. Time.” The next box held linens, each sheet individually folded and packed in its own plastic bag. Eden remembered folding them, remembered drowning her guilt over her lack of sorrow for her dead uncle in meticulous care for his belongings.
Fitted sheets had been a lot easier to care about than Zack’s father.
Eden lifted one of the bags. “Sheets and blankets, though we’ll need to round up some more furniture. But if Jay’s willing to